What are your thoughts on athletes and doping?

SSG Derrick L. Lewis MBA, C-HRM — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 08:47:25 -0400

With the Olympic games set to begin tonight, which I am still excited about. What are your thoughts on doping and how should it be handled? Do you feel that this act decreases the value of the Olympics and the medals? How about sports overall? I miss the days of simplicity. Eat, work out, and train hard. All natural. Weigh in RP!!

Response by SFC Richard Giles made Aug 5 at 2016 8:53 AM

SFC Richard Giles — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 08:53:35 -0400

Ahhhh those were the days huh? Wish we could go back to them.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Aug 5 at 2016 9:54 AM

PO1 John Miller — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 09:54:33 -0400

Personally I think they should all be allowed to dope. Athletes have been doping for quite some time, at least over 80 years when German scientists developed anabolic steroids. People have been doing it for years, it's just recently that we've developed ways of detecting it. So honestly, how many Olympic athletes were "clean" before doping became wide spread?

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Aug 5 at 2016 10:02 AM

SGM Mikel Dawson — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 10:02:34 -0400

It's all about the winning because winning means sponsorship, which means money in the end. It's no more about the "games". Would be nice if everyone would just be natural and compete as humans not doped up.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Aug 5 at 2016 11:02 AM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 11:02:37 -0400

The issue is really multi-fold

We are speaking of "competition" which leads to the idea that everyone is working fro the same base (natural) advantages. You get out of the competition what you put into it. Therefore, "performance enhancing" items (et al) violate the Spirit of competition. They can be deemed as an "unfair advantage.

The issue with Pharmacology (drugs) is that not everyone is going to know about the latest and greatest way to get maximum performance out of Physiology (body) for long or short term, AND there are trade-offs that can exist for each of those terms. You can take two athletes and one can choose to destroy his body in the short term to gain immediate advantage (like through stimulants), while the other can use long term benefits of another item to gain similar effects. Unfortunately, because the length of "Amateur careers" is measured in single Olympic games, this can create HUGE ethical issues.

Escalation of force or the Arms Race. If one person is perceived to be doing it, the entire playing field thinks they must do it to stay competitive. This acts as a shaping force within competition and leads to further ethical issues.

So although a person should absolutely be allowed to choose what they put in their own body, providing it does not actively hurt another, the private organization is also well within their powers to state that they want everyone to be competing "clean," and to develop rules that support that philosophy.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2016 11:25 AM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 11:25:41 -0400

I suspect the rules are pretty clear and published. Therefore follow them or pay the piper.